Grades are in for the City of Norman, and the 10th annual Community Report Card shows a growing economy but an increase in theft.

The report provides statistical data about Norman, covering areas such as safety, the economy, employment, education and OU.

Mayor Cindy Rosenthal said Norman officials use the information to detect problems and works with community leaders to alleviate these issues. Rosenthal said initiatives such as the Healthy Community Initiative and the Get-Out-the-Vote Initiative were created in response to the report.

An alarming data set in this report is the larceny rate, which rose by 11 reported incidents in 2007, said Carol Coles, administrative assistant to the city of Norman. But the increase isn’t as high as the five-year increase from 2003.

Coles said tourism revenue in Norman rose by $100,000 from 2006 to 2007.

Although OU has its own page in the report card, Norman is a reflection of the university, said Kristen Collins, president of United Way Norman, an organization that uses the report’s information to research the root causes of community challenges.

“OU is so closely tied to Norman that what is good for one is usually good for the other,” she said. “I do think, though, that Norman is largely reflective of OU, so what the report card shows is happening in Norman is likely to have an effect on OU as well.”

The report card lets the university share both its achievements and frustrations with Norman. These things include increases in contributions, endowment funds and full-time faculty and research expenditures, said Catherine Bishop, vice president of public affairs.

“Since the University of Oklahoma is an integral part of the community, the OU page allows us to reflect on OU’s significant positive economic impact on the City of Norman and the state of Oklahoma,” Bishop said.

The number of teachers with advanced degrees decreased by 9.1 percentage points from 2003 to 2007. According to the report, about one-third of Norman teachers have advanced degrees.

Even with the number of these teachers down, ACT scores have remained approximately the same since 2006. The average ACT score in Norman for 2007 was a 23. Although not much higher than last year, it is a 0.6 point increase from 2003.

Also, the high school dropout rate has decreased, falling from 16.3 percent in 2006 to 11.1 percent in 2007.

“I personally have always had an interest in our dropout rate,” Collins said. “I believe that Norman Public Schools does an outstanding job of addressing our children’s education and opportunities for success.”